This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from an application for AUDIO OUTPUT APPARATUS HAVING WIRELESS SPEAKERS earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on the 30th of December 1997 and there duly assigned Serial No. 79758/1997.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the class of electrical audio signal processing systems, and more particularly to wireless speaker systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an exemplary computer apparatus having wired speakers in accordance with the conventional art, a plurality of speakers are wire-connected to a connection terminal of a speaker of a 5.1 channel provided to a computer apparatus. In t he computer apparatus having the above-described construction, a compressed audio signal is restored to an original audio signal and then is converted to an analog signal. The audio signal converted to the analog signal is transmitted to each of a front speaker, a central speaker, a rear speaker and a sub-woofer speaker by a wire connected to the connection terminal so as to be amplified and outputted.
The computer apparatus has a n audio signal compressed by an AC-3 method, by which the signal is converted so as to be finally outputted through the speaker, and this can be replaced by other audio output apparatus, such as an optical disk reproducer. The front speaker, central speaker, and rear speaker outputs are audio signals of 20 Hz-20 KHz. Most central speaker outputs are audio signals such as dialogue in movies. The rear speaker is commonly referred to as a surround speaker. The sub-woofer speaker, a speaker for reinforcing a middle and low sound, uses an output audio signal of low frequency of 20 Hz-900 Hz such as the boom of guns. Thus, five speakers use output audio signals in the same frequency, while one speaker uses an output audio signal of low frequency, hence the term 5.1 channel.
However, t he computer apparatus having wired speakers has a disadvantage in that, since the plurality of speakers of the 5.1 channel are wire-connected to the audio output apparatus in a limited space so as to output audio signals, wires connecting the audio output apparatus and the speakers are complicated to connect. Moreover, the wires tend to sag at the space where the audio output apparatus is placed. It can often be difficult for the user to run wires to the desired locations of the speakers. Thus, the arrangement of wires is both awkward and unaesthetic.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved 5.1 channel audio apparatus.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a 5.1 channel audio apparatus in which speaker connection is simple.
It is a yet further object of the invention to provide an apparatus in which there are no wires necessary to connect the main speakers.
The present invention provides an audio output apparatus having wireless speakers in which an audio signal, provided from an audio output apparatus which outputs a 5.1 channel audio signal, is received by a sub-woofer speaker through an IEEE 1394 communication line, is modulated by a spread spectrum FM modulation method, and then is transmitted to the plurality of wireless-connected speakers so as to be outputted.
More specifically, there is provided an audio output apparatus having wireless speakers in which, when an audio signal coded by an IEEE 1394 communication protocol is outputted to a sub-woofer speaker through a first interface circuit, the input coded audio signal in accordance with a control signal from a controller provided in the sub-woofer speaker is received by a second interface circuit, and is decoded in real time by a decoder so as to output it externally. At the same time, it is modulated by a spread spectrum FM modulation method, and then is transmitted to the wireless-connected plurality of speakers so as to be demodulated and outputted.
Additional advantages, objects and other features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned from practice of the invention. The object and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.